Week 31 - Interdiscplinary Learning

My Interdisciplinary Map - more of a plant really... hopefully with some strong shoots but room for new growth and grafts to make new connections as I learn.

Interdisciplinary Learning

There are three major representations identified in the Interdisciplinary Learning model:

• interdisciplinary
• integrated
• integrative

A common strand is the conscious application of teaching, exploring, researching on a given theme. An interdisciplinary approach consciously combines two or more disciplines while keeping them distinct whereas integrated and integrative move towards transcending the discipline boundaries to a wider thematic approach capable of real world application and student centred learning.

These concepts are not new but perhaps now more than ever there is a 'perfect storm' building allowing the potential benefits of interdisciplinary study to blossom. We may define 'discipline' as "a process in which learning finds expression" (Gozzer, p. 286, 1982 in Mathison & Freeman, 1997). 

My Experience of Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning

In Term 1 at my school we undertook an interdisciplinary approach to setting a social studies achievement standard AS 91042 Report on Personal Involvement in a Social Justice and Human Rights Action. This was largely directed by Social Studies but was also supported by teaching in Religious Education, Technology and Business Studies. It was the first time this particular standard had been set and there was a lot of planning and discussion involved and presented many components of inter-disciplinary teaching and learning.

The Standard hinged on student participation in the Caritas Challenge - a 1 day event fully supported by the school every year. Caritas, a Catholic aid agency, runs Challenge Days designed for full day participation to raise awareness and money for a chosen community. This year the focus is on Cambodia and helping communities there by raising funds to help improve living and working conditions via initiatives such as water filters, farming co-operatives, legal help for land ownership and drought prevention measures. On the day the whole of Year 10 participates in various activities designed to raise awareness of the conditions facing people in Cambodia every day - they collect water in small containers from a local creek and boil to purify, try to complete work in a difficult outdoor classroom with  little resources, complete bag-making tasks to reflect unfair working conditions etc. Students do not bring phones (a huge challenge for many), are supplied with basic food and must perform the tasks to 'earn' their sponsorship money.

The Social Studies faculty taught the background to this as part of the Human Rights topic. Students developed a sound background knowledge to the history of the UDHR and created a 'wall of rights' in each classroom. In-depth case study was completed on Cambodia with students discovering the legacy left by Pol Pot's regime and the long term impacts it has generated.

In Religious Education, students learnt of the Catholic Social Teaching Principles advocated by Caritas: stewardship of people and the environment, solidarity, justice and the common good. This was reinforced with frequent links to the Rights visible in the classroom and allowed connections to be made in different contexts. Students were also researching the legacy of one of the founding saints of Baradene, Madeleine Sophie Barat, whose quote was to form the basis of a speech on social action as embodied by the school and themselves, 

"Your actions, even more than your words, are an eloquent example to the world".

The Technology faculty supported the initiative with students completing research into unfair working conditions in Cambodia and how large western corporations may employ sweatshop labour in manufacturing labels coveted by many of the girls themselves. Business Studies, within the Commerce faculty, also investigated this aspect of labour and production. On the day teachers from all faculties were rostered to run activities and the Technology department produced the food for students; basic kebabs and rice, crackers and fruit.

Students completed a booklet reflecting on and evaluating their activities on the day, their fund-raising success and proposed alternative actions they could plan - considering positives and negatives in terms of raising money and/or awareness for the issue. It was a great opportunity for students to create authentic learning opportunities with real-life scenarios well-planned and considered. Real-life examples helped students achieve a deeper level of empathy and understanding and it really touched many of them. 

Challenges

This took a lot of planning and many meetings but was overall a great success. As I teach my Year 10 class for both Social Studies and RE it was a great opportunity to see students making the connections and integrating learning from other Faculties and their own research. They informed me on aspects of sweatshop labour and business gleaned from other subjects. There were challenges in establishing the areas of responsibility for teaching and defining the marking boundaries for A/M/E needed quite a lot of discussion. As this was largely initiated by Social Sciences, we took responsibility for the marking and establishing those boundaries with clear directives to RE in particular on required teaching.

In following years it will be easier to smooth some of the planning and to incorporate greater collaborative efforts by students and faculties. As quoted in Mathison & Freeman "[it takes]... time to shape a coherent approach to interdisciplinarity (p. 4. 1997). Greater focus on critical thinking, communication and creativity via this interdisciplinary approach will need further attention, time and commitment but this was a positive start from which to build as showed some positive aspects of integrated learning by exploring a connected and real-world view of knowledge. The social awareness aspect and personal responses that students were encouraged to provide marks steps towards an integrative approach with more affective goals including personal impact and citizenship apparent.

Next Steps

In the near future I would like to incorporate greater access to authentic learning opportunities for my students. Real-world problem solving promotes engagement and the development of 21st century skills. Communicating with other departments and teachers to find out what they are studying will hopefully provide scope for new ideas and directions to develop. Students could peer review their ideas on how to best raise awareness and funds in the local community and carry out the initiative as a class. 

Continuing to harness the collaborative digital space I have available is another aspect I am committed to in my teaching. I see the benefits in so many ways as students find new and exciting ways to research, produce and share their work. I was thinking about the 'Wall of Rights' we have produced this year and am planning a class 'Sway' presentation next year where we can combine each student's 'Right' into a collaborative resource.

Underpinning both of these is my desire to consolidate  and continue my PLN involvement. Taking steps into Google+ has opened the door to a relatively (for me) undiscovered world of feedback, collaboration and learning and I look forward to establishing some future on-going connections.


References

• Mathison,S.. & Freeman, M.(1997). The logic of interdisciplinary studies. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, 1997. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/cela/reports/mathisonlogic12004.pdf: This review of literature of interdisciplinary studies can help you explore more about the interdisciplinary approach used by teachers in their class.

• Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI, 7(26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai